Skirts in the dirt, river, over logs

By LORETTA PARK Standard-Examiner staff

OGDEN -- It wasn’t about pain, but about fun, as women and girls of all ages and sizes ran, walked or trudged through the 5K course at “Skirt in the Dirt.”

"It’s hard to be princess when you’re running,“ said Kristina Owens of Ogden, the first-place overall winner of the third annual event.

She completed the 5K course in 27 minutes, 23.5 seconds. The course wound participants up and down hills and across the Weber River, not once, but three times, at Fort Bueneventura in Ogden on Saturday.

The event sponsored by the GOAL Foundation, based in Ogden, drew about 500 participants, most who sported brightly colored attire.

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Owens’ tiara had slipped down the back of her head and was barely attached to her head when she finished the race. Owens said she usually runs longer races, but because she had to be at the event as part of her job with Salomon, ”I decided to do a 5K and goof off a little.“

Jenny Scothern, executive director of the GOAL Foundation, said women-only running events are increasing across the country. In 2013, there were 350 participants in the ”Skirt in the Dirt“ event. This year the number has increased.

One of those new runners to the event may be young, but not new to running. Savannah Giles, 16, of South Ogden, took first place in her age group in a half-marathon on Thursday.

A cross country runner, Savannah told her parents she wanted to race again, and saw a story in the Standard-Examiner about ”Skirt in the Dirt’ and how all runners in it would be able run in the Ogden Marathon.

"I just like to run,“ Savannah said, even though bees stung her twice when she descended the stairs. The stair portion of the event was closed shortly after the first few runners dashed down them and were attacked by bees, officials said.

Erin Bailey, 10, of Layton, also likes to run and finished eighth overall with a time of 35 minutes and 35 seconds.

She and her mother, Shelley Bailey, had signed up to run with their neighborhood friends and called themselves ”Angels Crossing Running Skirts.“

Erin did not wait for her group.

"I left them,” said Erin, who did not appear to even be tired at the end.

Erin said she does not train for running, but does a lot of conditioning for soccer.

She just wasn’t prepared for the river crossings, and once “the water was really tall and I felt like was I going to fall over,” but Erin said she kept her pace high so she could finish well.

"I knew (Erin) would do well, but not this well,“ said her father, Bill Bailey. ”She beat so many adults.“

Some of those adults included three women dressed as bumblebees. Mitzi Pugh of Roy, Cami Myers of Pleasant View and Angela Clifton of Ogden. They decided to participate because it will qualify them to participate in the Ogden Marathon next spring.

Clifton had finished a half-marathon this week and said, ”I may be crawling over the finish line.“ Her friends told her ”We’ll carry you.“

At the end, the three were heading to the refreshments, which included chocolate cupcakes and sparkling juice in champagne flutes. ”We are the Killer Bees,“ Myers said about how they finished in under an hour.

Contact reporter Loretta Park at 801-625-4252 or lpark@standard.net. Follow her on Twitter at @LorettaParkSE. Like her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/SELorettaPark.